


Culture Shock

by mozarteffect



Series: (Never Meant To) Fall in Love [3]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Discussion of sexism goes on heads up, Don't @ me Toriyama, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Let's have fun with words and reframing them, Mild Language, Oblivious Yearning, Saiyans are not sexist, Set in the 3 Year Gap but not about it, Two Shot, Vegeta is a prude okay don't @ me, it just became a two shot, nothing like too serious though I think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23181484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozarteffect/pseuds/mozarteffect
Summary: (Takes place in the continuity of Goodnight Badman and A Matter of Perspective but can stand alone).Bulma and Vegeta have to deal with quite a few differences between them and their respective cultures, especially while navigating a relationship. Bulma sits Vegeta down after a get together with her friends to demand an explanation on what he meant by a certain word he used about her and Chi-Chi.
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta
Series: (Never Meant To) Fall in Love [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669549
Comments: 18
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo this is just a short off the cuff thing in the continuity of my other two fics about the 3YG and the 7YG (they're not required reading or anything but I figured I'd note that) sharing a headcanon of mine that developed over the years.
> 
> Spoilers: I like reframing things that are intended to be negative to flip expectations. 
> 
> This is probably super rough and nonsensical but enjoy it anyway if you wanna.

Vegeta, at least, had the sense to look confused by why Bulma was annoyed with him.

It was because he _was_ confused, not that Bulma realized he was genuinely confused, especially not when—"Where do you get off calling me a _harpy_ in front of my friends? Where do you get off calling _Chi-Chi_ a harpy?" She waved her hands in frustration, planting them on her hips and hunching her shoulders to tower over him as he sat staring up at her. " _What the hell is even a harpy?!_ "

It was a foreign word to her, but it sounded insulting. Then again everything coming from Vegeta sounded like an insult with his gruff tone and almost pathological insistence on _never_ saying anything positive.

He frowned, eyebrows pulling down to create a crease. "You don't know what that is?" he asked first.

" _Why_ would I know what that is?" Bulma asked back, hand flying to her chest in another dramatic gesture. "Is it some Saiyan thing? Some insult?"

His frown deepened (if that was even possible.) "Yes…no…." He looked away from her, down at the floor, mumbling something else.

Yes _and_ no? Bulma's brain churned trying to figure out what in the world he was getting at right then. She knew their…whatever was tenuous at best and it wasn't like she was going to come out and say to her friends "hey I'm screwing Vegeta!"—actually, they would probably be more flabbergasted at the idea of her being _friends_ with him than being physical. She knew they needed to keep up the pretense of not liking each other at all in front of other people, he had been the one to request that in fact; apparently Goku had been getting too _interested_ in the status of their relationship. It made him uncomfortable and Bulma understood (though she _didn't_ understand Goku of all people asking about that).

Vegeta insulting her with some foreign word—not just her, her _friend_ who hadn't even done anything all that objectionable as far as their collective standards went—felt like a slap in the face.

"Vegeta. Talk to me."

He mumbled some more, shifting around, _blushing?_ Yes, she could see a pink flush coming to his cheeks as he squirmed.

Bulma tried again, gently: "I want to understand what you meant, Vegeta. Otherwise…is it disrespect?"

"No!" he burst, defensive, sitting straight up. "No, dammit, it's _not_ an insult—I was _declaring_ my respect for you ridiculous Earth women!"

She raised an eyebrow, he realized he had shown far too much emotion and sank back into a sulking position. Bulma would never know that Vegeta had thought to himself what they had at the moment was far too good to spoil by any misunderstandings, so he wanted to explain as best as he could. But at the same time it would have revealed far too much and been a real blow to his dignity…

"You _honestly_ don't have anything like harpies in your mythology?" he groaned, swiping a hand over his forehead up into his hair.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Vegeta, but our 'mythology' extends out to the Dragon Balls and that shit is plainly real, so." Bulma shrugged, arms crossed now, deciding she needed to sit down so she wouldn't continue standing over her…guy she slept with semi-regularly (not a boyfriend, she didn't want to chase him off).

Vegeta sighed again, tone interlaced with disgust and exhaustion. He covered his face with both his hands, rubbing at his face as though it would change anything whatsoever.

"I _was_ giving you my respect—I was showing respect to _both_ of you," Vegeta finally growled. "Harpies are female creatures in Saiyan myth that were prayed to for luck in battle. They bring aid to worthy warriors while punishing the unworthy and dishonorable with painful death." His cheeks darkened as Bulma's expression changed to one of astonishment, suddenly he was too bashful to meet her gaze. "They're terrifying, glorious to behold when they've deemed you worthy but all the same not to be trifled with."

While that sounded great and Bulma was flattered he would share such a thing about Saiyan culture with her—"Are they ugly? Or are they really pretty?"

Vegeta blinked. He was never the right person to ask about physical looks, not by any stretch, it was like pulling teeth to even get him to admit that he had found her much more attractive than others. (He didn't _want_ to admit it because it was such an abnormal reaction for him.) "I suppose. They're women mixed with birds. Lovely enough until you've incurred their wrath, that's what I've been told at least." He seemed to catch on next what she was getting at, unsure expression turning to a smirk. "So it fits you to a T in that case."

"Shut up!" she snapped, taking the nearest object—one of her many empty mugs scattered about—and throwing it at him.

Vegeta easily caught it with one hand, not even giving a glance to the thing, still smirking.

Though the frustrating Saiyan Prince took the opportunity to be a _complete asshole_ as usual, Bulma mulled over what he had shared with her.

So, he viewed herself and Chi-Chi as something very specific to Saiyan culture, a good luck charm in a way. Bulma was no warrior herself though Chi-Chi very much was, even if she had retired for the sake of caring for Gohan. She could see where Chi-Chi could be compared to an imposing but great figure as that. But her?

Then she thought again, she _did_ aid him in his training, she had made him armor. She guessed in that case she could have been considered close to such a thing.

Without realizing at first, Bulma scooted her chair so she was sitting directly next to Vegeta, leaning her head on his shoulder. He stiffened for a moment, and she could hardly blame him, gestures of affection like that were rarely to never done outside of the bedroom. Someone could have _seen_ them if they walked into the lab right then. "I don't know how I feel about that exactly, it still sounds like a mean word."

"Woman, you _know_ when I'm insulting you," Vegeta sighed with frustration. He was about to say more but was stopped by her reaching up and kissing him on the cheek.

He froze.

Again, unusual. Not done outside of the bedroom, _ever_. What was she doing?

Bulma only smiled at him, inexplicable affection pouring out though she tried not to let it show on her expression. _Just keep it casual, Briefs, whatever you do._ "Thanks, though, it's sweet of you to think that way."

Vegeta looked like he wanted to respond but could only mouth nonsense for a moment before scoffing and turning away with a blush, knocking her into sitting back away from him again. "Think what you want, Bulma, you will _never_ hear such sentimental nonsense from me again!"

Ah, there was the asshole she knew, clamming up and suppressing himself out of embarrassment. She sighed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face with a puff. "Okay…but, one more question: what would your fellow Saiyans think of you sleeping with a harpy? Albeit one that's a lot hotter and definitely _not_ part bird."

"They'd be jealous," Vegeta blurted out without thinking. "Only the greatest warriors were worthy of a harpy taking them as a paramour."

One could have heard a coin drop in the room after he finished.

Vegeta stood abruptly, sputtering something about _vulgar women wasting his time with stupid questions_ while he stomped off up the stairs, probably back to his gravity room where he would suitably punish himself for—god forbid—showing _feelings_.

To her credit, Bulma didn't laugh at his misfortune as he left, didn't laugh at all really. Though she did watch him with that same expression of affection, thinking over what he had said about being considered _worthy_.

Worthy? He said that quite a bit. While Bulma wasn't shy about bragging that men were lucky they were _worthy_ of being able to glance in her direction, something about Vegeta saying such a thing, sharing his culture, it all felt very special to her. She felt…worthy herself.

 _Boy, I need to be careful or I might start falling for this guy,_ she scolded herself, shaking her head, deciding to push the conversation out of her mind once and for all since she had gotten her answer.

It wasn't as though it was anything _serious_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta doesn't get The Gender Expectations and doesn't like that they negatively affect Bulma. That's it, that's the summary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hesitated about the idea of doing this little continuation from Vegeta's perspective buuuut I did it anyway. I tried to make it, like...real and not overbearing, but also it's almost 4 AM and I had a long week of work SO. I DON'T KNOW. ENJOY.

A great many things confused Vegeta about Earth's culture—well, _cultures_ , in actuality, Earthlings were much more diverse than Saiyans had been. (At least, more diverse than he knew, since he had rarely left the palace before being recruited as a child.) Regardless, they still held beliefs that seemed impractical. The bizarre and _rigid_ line between genders was one of them; women did "this" and men did "that" and was the universal rule. If one questioned it, pointed out those who defied "this and that", they were looked at like…

Like an alien. Which he was, but that was besides the point.

Earthlings also enjoyed pretending that "the opposite sex" to them were mysterious when they could have easily solved that by actually communicating. (And yes, it was ridiculous that even _he_ , someone who wasn't the biggest fan of communicating, knew that.) They fell back on stereotypes that he heard quite often (even if he didn't want to) as he walked around the Capsule Corp. compound. _"Yeah, but, girls, you know?" "Oh you_ know _how men are!"_ and so on and so forth.

(No, he _didn't_ know, how was he supposed to know? Didn't they know it wasn't just "male and female" out there as well?)

He ignored it for the most part, it had nothing to do with him. Although stepping directly into a conversation about it with Bulma when he offhandedly (accidentally spoke aloud an internal thought) called her a harpy was a slipup. Upon reflection, he supposed she would have a reason to bristle at being called something gendered, even if it was one of the few Saiyan terms or concepts that _was_ gendered in the first place.

Not that she would know that. It was awkward enough admitting to her that he respected her _that much_. Their…relationship was still too new and while Vegeta just wanted to play it off like it was only physical he couldn't deny that there was genuine respect and…maybe even intimate friendship.

N…not that he would _say that_ aloud, Vegeta didn't have _friends_.

Still, he felt an unusual protectiveness over her, something warm in his chest whenever he looked at her. A little space in his mind had opened up that was exclusively occupied by Bulma Briefs, ever present though he tried to ignore it. Vegeta could go for days without ending up in bed with her or even seeing her and he would mysteriously think of her anyway. Hell, just seeing the formerly innocuous color _blue_ would make him think of Bulma.

It was dangerous to allow someone to have that sort of hold over his mind though it wasn't something she intended, while she would jokingly pout at how "lonely" she would get when he didn't come to her room, she never needled him about coming over. It seemed Bulma was far more adept at doing the "casually physical" aspect of their relationship than him and emphasized that there was no pressure even if she admitted it was nice and she liked talking to him. (Part of him did wonder if she thought of him as often that he ended up thinking about her.)

Although…after their recent conversation, she kissed him. Sort of. It was one of those weird "cheek kisses" she would do as a sign of affection—her little sneak attack threw him off very much! What if someone had _seen_ them? What was she going to do next? H…hold his _hand_? (And what would _he_ do next, at that?)

Vegeta realized his face was burning at the thought and looked around to be sure no one was _seeing him_ blushing like some hormonal teenager.

No, thankfully, nobody but the lab techs were there with their backs turned to him. Vegeta was sat patiently at Bulma's desk waiting for her, absentmindedly rearranging it to _clean the damn thing up_ since she was careless as usual. It was a little smaller and less familiar to him than the one in her personal lab but no less messy.

He paused, realizing that the techs were talking to each other _about_ Bulma specifically. Though Vegeta wasn't into eavesdropping usually, he found himself inclining his head slightly to listen.

"…Bulma can be such a bitch sometimes, you know?"

Vegeta bristled immediately. First, the worm called her by her name without putting _doctor_ at the front? What right did _he_ have to be so familiar in speech? And that _word_ , ugh!

The other tech chuckled, "Yeah, super overbearing. No wonder Yamcha ditched her."

 _No wonder?_ They parted amicably! There was no "ditching" involved—though Vegeta was now possessed by the thoughts of throwing _them_ into a ditch. He tapped his fingers against his bicep as he sat there with his arms crossed, trying very much so not to _say_ anything as they continued laughing about her apparently "unreasonable" expectations on them.

 _It's not your business. It's not your business,_ he repeated to himself.

 _…Oh the hell with it._ "You talk about your superior like this when she isn't around?" Vegeta asked.

The two jumped, turning suddenly and almost in sync, blathering something about not realizing he was even there. "—Well, y-you know how it is, Mr. Vegeta!" the first one laughed nervously. "We're just venting! I mean, chicks, right?"

 _Chicks? Like chickens?_ Vegeta thought in first reaction. "No, I don't know," he clipped back, trying not to show that he was grinding his teeth. "You act like you've earned the right to call her without a title? And complain that she tries to make sure you do your jobs competently?"

They stammered some more, babbling that it wasn't right someone _like her_ was so highly ranked and it was only because of her father being the founder. " _Like her_ ," Vegeta seized onto that phrasing. "What does that mean, _like her_?"

"Well…women just don't…they shouldn't be in science like this."

Vegeta wasn't convinced: " _Why_?"

The worms excused themselves awfully quickly after that, especially since Bulma was now entering the lab and informing them of a new task they had to get to.

Vegeta was silent for a long moment even as Bulma talked to him, asking what he was there for, what was the status on his gravity room. She had to have noticed what they were saying as she came in. But she wasn't saying anything about it, she didn't call them out on it or even address it to him. Why?

Bulma noticed he was occupied with something and leaned into his view. "What's up?"

"They were disrespecting you!" he burst, a slight offended squeak inherent in his tone. "They said—"

She laughed, taking the seat next to him. "Aww, is that your first time seeing sexism in the workplace?"

 _Sexism in the workplace?_ He thought about it and realized yes, it _would_ have been his first time seeing discrimination based on gender in a business setting. The Frieza Force had always segregated any and all bases by gender, which was unusual for the lizard to want as he _technically_ wasn't male in a conventional sense but still insisted on males and females remaining separate with rare exceptions. (It went without saying that those who were neither did not have those rules applied to them, which was an oversight on Frieza's part.) Regardless, Vegeta would have never been witness to a conversation as he saw just then about lesser ranks complaining about a female superior.

He didn't say all of what he was thinking, however, and just shrugged in response. "Is it really so common on Earth?"

She shrugged back. "A lot of careers can be hard for women to get into, science is one of them. I'm privileged because of the position I was born into and that's all people see."

But _why_? Why were some careers harder than others for women to get into? What did the position Bulma was born into have to do with it? Her sister was born with the same privilege but pursued a different career, he had learned. Their mother was a whole other story but regardless showed independence and a hidden cleverness that was more than a little off-putting when he noticed that gleam in her eyes. So why? "Then you're saying Earth is a backwards planet?"

Bulma slapped his shoulder playfully, which Vegeta barely felt of course. "Whatever!" She was grinning despite the defiant tone, which sent a surge of sickeningly _positive_ feelings of warmth all though him. "Point is, it's whatever, I've already heard it and I'm not gonna obsess on it."

"…Not even a little?" he couldn't help asking. "You're not going to discipline them? Fire them?"

She seemed more than a little horrified at the idea, staring at him with her mouth slightly agape. "No! Why would I do that? Geez, it's nothing to fire anybody over, I'm not a _tyrant_." She muttered something about even if she _was_ a tyrant, they were "temps" anyway and not actual employees of the company (whatever that meant).

But…it wasn't acceptable to have people in the ranks that bantered so casually (and inaccurately) about a superior. Vegeta mulled it over, _why_ wouldn't Bulma want revenge? It wasn't as though she was some meek and innocent person who never thought of revenge or ruthless actions in general.

"And besides," she continued in a softer tone. "Who would believe me? They would just call me a spoiled brat throwing around false accusations, trying to ruin peoples' careers." The way she spoke, much to Vegeta's discomfort, sounded like they were all things she had heard before either in her own experience or another that she knew very well. Bulma seemed to notice something change in his face as she continued: "It's not that _simple_ , Vegeta."

But why not? Vegeta's mind reeled at Earth values, sitting there staring at his hands, realizing he had forgotten why he was there in the first place.

"It's not like people go around being sexist or whatever all the time, people _rarely_ make their prejudices their whole personality, Vegeta. And you're one to talk what with your 'oh look at me I'm an elite'—hey, are you okay?"

He looked up at her, frowning. "Earth is awful, I can't wait to leave."

He had blurted it out carelessly, just as a general thing, when he thought about it with any real honesty he had no intentions of leaving Earth any time soon. He had to defeat Kakarot, of course, and reclaim his position as the mightiest Saiyan, but after? Afterwards was a blank.

Nonetheless, something in his tone, his statement, his expression—whatever—must have caught Bulma unaware. A flash of…something, went across her face. For a moment, Vegeta saw that exhausted and worried look she so carefully hid from other people intermingled with…sadness?

It washed away as quickly as it came, however, like a cloudburst.

Her smile, which had dropped, returned. He saw it was her "for show" look and felt his frown turn into a scowl. What the hell was she upset about suddenly? "Bulma—"

"—Anyway," Bulma interrupted him, waving off _whatever_ it was that just happened, swiveling her chair to her desk. "Enough about that. I'm sure you didn't come here to banter about how Saiyans don't have the same values as Earthlings—you already think we're inferior, blah blah blah. So what did you really come here for?"

Right…he had…why was he there?

He was there to visit _her_ and nothing else. In fact, as he watched her look at her desk in confusion at how things were rearranged, he realized he just wanted to sit with her and watch her work. Maybe talk a little. Just feel her presence with him and ease the loneliness that tended to pester the two of them.

"Where _is_ my notebook?" she grumbled, not noticing how Vegeta was staring at her deep in thought. "—What the heck? Who moved it to the _shelf_ , it doesn't _go_ there!"

Vegeta couldn't see his own expression, if he did he would have realized (and been horrified) that he was smiling in a disgustingly soft way at her.

Bulma, realizing after a moment Vegeta wasn't saying anything, looked back at him. "What?"

"Nothing." He paused, watching her shrug and go back to her work, feeling an awkward empty space where there should have been something _else_. "…You're good," he said without thinking. "You're competent."

"Oh, my salty Saiyan friend, I'm _more_ than competent," she replied with a sly smirk and a wink. "I'm the _best_."

"Tch, don't let it go to your head," Vegeta scoffed, mirroring her smirk in spite of his scolding tone. He wasn't sure what salty was supposed to mean either, like as in taste? But she didn't say it with that usual voice she would put on _when_ she was being vulgar, so it wasn't vulgar. Earth vocabulary missed him far more than Earth cultural values did, if he was being honest, it frustrated and confused him often.

After a moment of consideration, he leaned forward and very gently kissed her.

Unsurprisingly, she froze—they didn't do this outside of the bedroom, not when there was a possibility of people _seeing_ them and realizing what was going on. But he just…wanted to do it. He was glad when she returned the kiss and considered that maybe trying to navigate the idiosyncrasies of Earth wasn't so bad if it all led back to her.

 _I have to be careful_ , he thought, _I might want to stay here forever at this rate._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief Mozart updates for those who don't follow my Twitter (not an obligation at all I'm very obnoxious) and might not have seen it:
> 
> 1\. I work at Walmart, yes I'm very busy, yes "toilet paper" has become an anger button word, yes I'm experiencing increased anxiety about my health.  
> 2\. I have had a death in the family recently, no I don't know if it was Covid-19 related though there's strong suspicion. Cue increased anxiety in addition to grief.  
> 3\. Please don't see this as a call to pity me, I just prefer to be transparent and upfront.  
> 4\. The three above have resulted in longer series like OTWT and Goodnight, Badman to be paused/delayed, but I'm still working on them.
> 
> Okay that's all, I'm going back to bed.


End file.
